Hard Work Alone Wont Get You Promoted But This Will

Hard Work Alone Wont Get You Promoted But This Will Running Fairygodboss, I hear a lot of opinions about what women should do in buchung to be successful. Most of it is amazingly helpful and thoughtful. But sometimes, I hear things that are well-intentioned but worrisome (and potentially misleading) in their simplicity. The one piece of well-meaning advice that bothers me the most? Just work hard.I hear this advice everywhere from panels on leadership to articles about how to advance your career. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer recently gave an interview in which she said, My husband the venture capital investor Zachary Bogue runs a co-working office in San Francisco. He runs his company out of there and other startups cycle through. And if you go in on a Saturday afternoon, I can tell you which startups will succeed, without even knowing what they do. Being there on the weekend is a huge indicator of success, mostly because these companies just dont happen. They happen because of really ha rd work.Commitment and dedication are important to achieving goals and working hard is obviously a key success factor for many professionals. The herausforderung is focusing exclusively on hard work because while research shows that hard work is correlated with success, the jurys out on whether its sufficient.For example, theres an overwhelming amount of evidence that others assumptions and unconscious bias affect us in the workplace. And so does gender inequality Fairygodboss recently surveyed over 1,600 working women who reported that, where gender inequality exists at work, unequal promotions between men and women is the top issue.So if hard work isnt the answer, what is?Women are good at working hard. If that was really the answer, full stop, wouldnt there be more women in leadership, making equal pay? Working hard for your success means more than putting your head down and putting in a great deal of effort it also means taking control of your brand making aya that others know you are working hard and it means asking for the rewards.Case in point We may be unduly influenced by swagger (also known as self-promotion something research has shown men to do more without inhibition) and therefore under-value those who toil away earnestly but more quietly.Indeed, one study concluded that Of all the strategies used by women, making their achievements knownby ensuring their manager was aware of their accomplishments, seeking feedback and credit as appropriate, and asking for a promotion when they felt it was deservedwas the only one associated with compensation growth.Self-promotional behavior (including asking for what you want/have earned) matters. Yet research shows that women even the most senior ones still struggle with it. There are different theories about why there is a gender difference between men and women when when it comes to self-promotional behavior but the bottom line is this Dont buy into the career advice that its enough to work hard. Working hard is only one parte of the puzzle. If you want that promotion or raise, use your swagger and ask for itA version of this article was originally published on Forbes.Fairygodboss is committed to improving the workplace and lives of women.Join us by reviewing your employer